Neverwinter

The party was woken by the sounds of battle. Roland and Illivara came out of their room to find the Leviathan under attack by Ash Zombies. Hannah and Bliss found the Moonstone Mask all but deserted, and ran into the streets to help the Mintarn, who were under attack by a group of Skeletal warriors.

With the help of the Cormyran Knight, Harrag, and Tilda the waitress, Sir Roland and Illivara were able to repel the brief assault. Seeing fighting across the bay, the two grabbed a ferry and made it across, just in time to help Bliss and Hannah take out the Skeletons besieging the Moonstone Mask. The Mintarn warned that more seemed to be coming from the Winged Wyvern bridge.

The party met up with another group of Mintarn and launched into combat with a much larger group of undead, led by what was clearly a Red Wizard of Thay. Battling zombies of their raised allies, the heroes cut their way to the Necromancer and slew him. The Mintarn force was all but decimated, leaving only their caster alive. Indeed, had it not been for the intervention of a mysterious Drow, the whole group may have fallen to Thayan arrows. But the heroes emerged triumphant and ran at full tilt to the Winged Wyvern.

Approaching the bridge, they joined the defenders there in repelling the monsters surging from the river and from across in the Blacklake District. Exhibiting perfect timing, General Sabine and a huge force of Mintarn, accompanied by Saul Tyrell, arrived just as the zombies fell.

As the soldiers attempted to secure the bridge, a huge surge of undead came from the south graveyard, engaging the bulk of Neverember’s troops. The party, however, along with Sabine and her elite guard, faced down a new terror on the bridge: Valindra Shadowmantle, reincarnated and thirsty for bloody revenge.

As the Neverwinter force met the zombies blow for blow, Valindra pulled an ace out of her sleeve: a Young Blue Dragon, whose lightning tore through the Mintarn like a scythe through wheat. The heroes were resolute, however, and as Sabine fell to the dragon’s claw they redoubled their efforts and drove the Lich and her pet from the bridge.

As the smoke cleared, many lay dead and Sabine lay wounded. A mighty blow had been struck against the forces of Neverwinter, but thanks to the heroes, the city had not fallen.

The next day, Lord Neverember held another conference in an attempt to unite the people following the terrible attack. The party went to Mayor Galt for a reward for their efforts, and found him in a meeting with Mordai Vell and many other concerned nobles offering Neverember their aid. After much patient waiting, the party recieved a writ from Galt and went to the Tarmalune Trade House to receive their reward from Len-Jes the dockmaster. Hannah also went to pick up her armour, along with a brand new breastplate!

The group went to the Leviathan to meet with the Cormyran knight. She introduced herself as Lady Greenmantle, and explained that she was in town to open trade routes between Cormyr and Neverwinter. In light of recent events, however, she felt compelled to return to her homeland and report before making any concrete arrangements. She thanked the party for their time, and assured them that, should Cormyr ever need assistance, she would call upon them with a handsome reward.

As she left to collect her belongings, the party was startled by the appearance of a youth at the door, shouting about a huge fight going on outside. The party raced to investigate…

The party ran into Captain Shaw of the Mintarn, who was searching for a monster who had burrowed beneath the wall. He sent one of his soldiers to investigate the summoning circle, and the party went on searching for the Heir. Following the trail of a rat, they wound deeper into the sewers under Blacklake.

Eventually they came upon a group of Wererats, lying in wait for them. Diving at the gangsters from the shadows, the party and the lycanthropes clashed in a fierce battle. As soon as the tide turned against the Wererats, they turned tail and fled. The party managed to kill one of them, but it wore a strange skull necklace that erupted into a massive explosion, destroying the body.

The party headed to the surface and told Fredegar about all they had seen and heard. Fredegar seemed quite upset. They then went to the wall to investigate the monster Shaw was hunting. They met Sir Ambring, a dwarf knight of Old Neverwinter and friend to Sir Roland. With the knight in tow, they headed to the sewer to find and assist Captain Shaw.

They feared themselves too late when they found the corpse of Shaw’s dead soldier. When they did find Shaw and his other comrade, the party discovered them to be thralls to the horrible monster they were tracking: a plaguechanged Umber Hulk. During the fight, Sir Ambring fell to the creature’s hypnotic gaze, though the party was able to free Captain Shaw of it’s domination. With the help of his spellscar, the party was able to carve into the Umber Hulk, eventually bringing it low. But not before the monster (and Bliss’ rapier) critically injured Hannah, damaging her armour.

Durham Shaw was extremely grateful, and paid them a hefty sum for their assistance. The partied pried off some of the hide of the beast, while draining its blood and removing an eye. They brought the corpse through the sewers to the Tarmalune Trade House, where Hannah made arrangements with Aothir the Blacksmith to have her armour repaired.

The party went to the Beached Leviathan to much accolade. Roland and Illivara engaged in a drinking contest and remained at the bar to sleep it off, but not before Sir Roland made some very disparaging remarks about the “Lord Pretender” and his Mintarn. A Purple Dragon of Cormyr was staying at the inn, and invited them to come speak with her in the morning when they were sober: she had a job opportunity for them. Hannah and Bliss returned to the Moonstone Mask. All four spent a restless night in their separate inns.

After drinks at the Driftwood and sleeping at their various inns, the party arose to find Lord Neverember holding audience at the Hall of Justice. The citizens wanted answers as to how Neverember would respond to this Lost Heir’s appearance. He entreated that people return to business as usual, and implored the Lost Heir to reveal himself so that the city may thank him for his contribution at the market.

The party decided to investigate themselves. Returning to the scene of the battle, the heroes interviewed several bystanders. Eventually they were directed to a halfling youngster named Ecil, who led them on a desperate chase. They caught her and terrorized her, eventually charming her with magic, making her lead them to where she saw the Heir. She led them to an alleyway, where the Heir disappeared before Ecil had been jumped by giant rats. They told Ecil to return home, and she did so in a daze.

The party opened a manhole at the end of the alley and ventured into the sewer. They fought off some disgusting Drowners and began the search for the Heir’s trail. They found a cache of stolen goods, as well as evidence of a summoning circle.

As the sun crested the city above, the heroes below began scouring deeper into the sewer for answers…

The group met Clorde at the House of a Thousand Faces. He led them to the Drow Encampment in the Castle Never courtyard. Someone was already there: Drizzt Do’Urden, legendary Drow warrior and friend to Bregan D’aerthe. After making her report to Clorde, Illivara was tasked with thwarting the interests of Thay in the region: the necromancers behind the undead disturbances in the Neverwinter Wood and possibly Neverdeath Graveyard. Clorde took his leave.

The party swapped stories with Drizzt and even sparred with him, learning a few new tricks. Eager for some real combat, the party convinced Drizzt to accompany them to Neverdeath to investigate the undead threat. Shouldering Taulmaril, Drizzt came along.

Sir Roland badmouthed a few Mintarn guards, but eventually entered the graveyard. They were immediately confronted with Skeletons, raised from the graveyard. As they got deeper in, they found a particular crypt that the undead seemed particularly interested in. Putting down the guards outside, they left Drizzt to guard the entrance while they investigated beneath the crypt.

Inside they found a disturbing sight: a powerful Thayan lich named Valindra Shadowmantle, scouring the crypt for something. Surrounding the party with her zombies, Valindra punched her way through the party, nearly mortally wounding many of them. As the heroes battled the zombies, they heard an enormous explosion outside.

Rushing to the surface, they found the entire portion of the graveyard leveled by a massive explosion. The lich stood over the body of Drizzt, but she herself was brutally wounded. The party swarmed her, and in a last ditch effort she summoned an illusory dragon to scare off the party. The heroes blades would not be turned, however. The lich Valindra fell under their steel.

Reviving Drizzt, the party left the graveyard, uncomfortable in the knowledge that, though Valindra had fallen, her phylactery was out there somewhere…

The group dropped into Vellguard Manor at the invitation of the lord, Mordai Vell. The charming Tiefling noble welcomed them to the city. He knew quite a bit about each of them, but did not appear hostile. He offered to pay them well for any information on Neverember’s doings. He also offered to pay them for any information on the Prophet Rohini, who he seemed very interested in. In addition, he assured them that any rumours they had heard about Devil-worship in the Blacklake District were false.

The party stopped by the main market by the Tarmalune Trade House. Illivara recognized the tattoos on a human merchant by the name of Clorde, revealing him as a Bregan D’aerthe agent. As they browsed the wares of the market, the ground began to shake. Without warning, up from the sewers erupted a force of plaguechanged maniacs who began attacking the innocent townspeople. The heroes lept to their defense.

As the battle continued, a strange figure suddenly joined the fray: a warrior in full armor, his helm’s beaver down, wielding a huge sword and heavy shield. On top of his sat a remarkable artifact: the Crown of Neverwinter, thought lost in the Cataclysm. Proclaiming himself the Lost Heir, he rushed into the fray, and with his help the party made short work of the plaguechanged.

Just as things were thinning, however, a new threat approached: a massive plaguechanged White Dragon landed in the square and began a fresh assault. The Lost Heir fought hard with the party, and eventually unleashed a Spellscar in an attempt to hinder the beast. As the party rounded up the Dragon, cornering it on the fountain, the Heir cast a powerful spell. The giant Dragon was turned to stone.

As the crowd erupted into chaotic cheers, the Heir disappeared down the docks. The party went to the Driftwood to reflect on events. Illivara made an appointment to meet with Clorde to report on her findings thus far. The whole of the city was abuzz with gossip and news of the return of this Lost Heir…

The party awoke to an investigation: there had been a murder in the night. After answering a few of Sabine’s questions, the party left unhindered.

The heroes decided it was time to venture into the Chasm District to recover Varden’s titles and possessions. Battling their way through waves of plaguechanged, they finally found the ruins of Varden’s family home. Once they had recovered the deeds, along with several small heirlooms, the party made haste back to the Protector’s Enclave.

Lou Varden was infinitely grateful, who let the party keep most of the trinkets they had gathered. Madame Rosene bought many of them for a pretty penny. The party celebrated their success with a hearty lunch at the Driftwood.

After meeting up with Bliss, the party visited the Beached Leviathan, a ramshackle tavern on the Shattered Docks. Harrag, the innkeeper, was very friendly, and they told him all about their stay.

Feeling adventurous, the party entered the long-deserted courtyard of the ruined Castle Never. After scouting out the grounds, they entered a mid-sized building off from the main castle. The building proved to be a barracks, where the castle guards of old Neverwinter would eat, sleep, and train. After retrieving a few small artifacts, the party was attacked by some powerful ghosts. The restless dead chased the party from the castle.

As the group caught their breath they were confronted by a particular nasty member of the Mintarn, who tried to provoke them from horseback. The group was having none of it and chased him away. When they tried to cross the river, however, he and a group of soldiers tried to extort a toll from the party. After Mitchell Fletcher, the asshole from earlier, made some less-than-gentlemanly attempts at courtship, the ladies in the party shut him down right quick and threatened their way past.

The party went to the Wall, where they met Durham Shaw, the spell-scarred Captain of the Wall. Though he was uncommunicative, he invited them for dinner at the House of Knowledge. There they met a group of homeless people living in harmony, who welcomed them by the fire.

As they made their way through the enclave, they noticed a suspicious figure in a long gray cloak. They followed the person in secret to the Driftwood Tavern. They saw some strange sights there, including the assistant barkeep drowning a trapped rat.

The party went to the Fallen Tower, witnessed the “Magic Show”, and had an incredible party (by some people’s estimation). The party drunkenly stumbled back to the Moonstone Mask, where Mitchell Fletcher and his buddies were quite drunk as well. Illivara, in an attempt to distract him while she stole his purse, went to bite his ear. She bit too hard, however, taking a huge chunk out of it. After fleeing upstairs with the purse, they retired to bed.

While exploring the city, the party noticed the small cloaked figure stalking them once more. Sneaking up on him, they attacked, revealing it to be Fredegar Brockhouse, a halfling with a badly scarred face. Fredegar was revealed to be a Harper Agent, who was working with his colleagues out of the House of a Thousand Faces to restore Neverwinter as a force for good.

The group decided to explore the River District. As they searched the ruins, they were promptly ambushed by a large group of orcs. Though the party fought valiantly, they eventually fell before superior numbers.

The orcs took the bound and helpless party to Vansi, chieftain of the Orcs living in Neverwinter. When it was revealed that the orcs attacked unprovoked, breaking the truce between the citizens of Neverwinter, Vansi killed the interloping lieutenant and released the party. After apologizing profusely, Vansi offered an invitation to the Fallen Tower, the orc tavern, and the evening “Magic Show.”

The party returned to the enclave to nurse their wounds, and decided to meet up with their allies at the wall.

The party, hired on as guards to defend the caravan of a dwarf named Bartren, approached the city of Neverwinter.
The caravan was ambushed by Ash zombies, charging forth and attacking the caravan. The heroes repelled the attack and made it safely to the gates of Neverwinter.
Upon entering the city, they were granted an audience with Lord Neverember, Lord Protector of the city. He and his addled mayor Soman Galt greeted the party and warmly welcomed them.
While exploring their new home, the heroes were ambushed by a group of locals calling themselves the Sons of Alagondar. After killing a few of their number, the party chased off the remaining rebels.

Seeking work, the party headed to the Wall, where they met General Sabine, commander of Neverember’s Mintarn Mercenaries. Sabine let the party over the wall, where they slew several plaguechanged monsters before retreating from the seemingly endless horde.
After a long day, the party headed to the Moonstone Mask, the city’s largest inn. Though the place was swarming with Mintarn, Liset Cheldar the innkeeper was able to find them lodging on the third floor. As they ate supper, they noticed a cloaked figure watching them. Before they could react, however, another shorter cloaked figure walked up and broke his nose. Both fled the bar before the party could react.